Lisa Allen Is Honored as YMCA’s ‘Light of the Valley’

Lisa Allen's storied professional career actually began with the Wheeling YMCA. It just didn't last very long there.

Right out of college in 1979, Allen was hired as aquatics director at the Chambers YMCA in Elm Grove. Less than a year after being hired, she heard about upcoming layoffs. She wasn't worried. She was confident in her abilities in her job. Also, her father Charles Lando was chairman of the YMCA board of directors.

"Well, guess who lost her job?" she said Wednesday. "First one right out of the gate."

With that speed bump, Allen realized her dad was teaching her a valuable lesson.

"He sent a loud message that has resonated throughout my entire career: no gifts," she said. "Always humble. Earn your keep. Learn to step up. Let others realize through your own actions — not words or protection from others — where your true value lies."

That message led her to become CEO of the Wheeling-based Ziegenfelder Company, one of the top frozen treat manufacturers in the United States. Now retired from that position, she remains chair of that company's board of directors and has been steadfast in helping the Wheeling YMCA and the Ohio Valley community in as many ways as she can.

For that philanthropy, the Wheeling YMCA honored her Wednesday at Wheeling Park's White Palace with the Dr. Lee Jones Patron of Youth Award at its Light of the Valley luncheon.

Allen and Ziegenfelder's relationship with the Wheeling YMCA is strong and lengthy. Through the company's sponsorship the YMCA flag football championships are played at Wheeling Island Stadium. Ziegenfelder also supplies t-shirts, DVDs of the games, awards, pizza and popsicles.

Beyond her work with the YMCA, Allen was lauded for the Ziegenfelder's Compassionate Hiring program, where the company hires those just released from jail, allowing them to get back on their feet and make a solid living in a supportive environment.

"Her belief is that everyone makes mistakes and deserves an opportunity and should be treated with dignity, compassion and respect," said current Ziegenfelder CEO Kevin Heller, who introduced Allen at the luncheon.

In accepting the award, Allen wanted to impart three important lessons in life. First, discover your own North Star and figure out what keeps you focused and on track. Second, be brave and be yourself, and remember that courage ultimately comes from within. Third, remember that you are the light for those around you, and that those people look to you for guidance.

"Please, learn to shine the light on the humanity that surrounds you every day," she said. "Believe in the resilience of the human spirit, even in the hardest and darkest of times. Be the strength and the light for others, the community and the world."

Also at the luncheon, Wheeling YMCA Board President Jamie Bordas presented YMCA Executive Director Adam Shinsky with a check, announcing that more than $50,000 had been raised for the organization.

The luncheon's keynote speaker was longtime Major League Baseball coach Rich Donnelly, a Steubenville native that logged 10 years coaching the Pittsburgh Pirates during his career. He said, in spending most of his career as a third base coach, one of his jobs was waving runners home. He said that, during his life, he needed waved home, and got that from his children, including a daughter who died of a brain tumor at age 17 that served as inspiration, a son killed in a car accident as he pushed a woman out of the way of a speeding car, and two daughters who shielded and cared for a woman shot during the 2017 Las Vegas shooting that killed 60 people.

He lauded the YMCA for also being a home for many children who didn't have one, and how the Y's mission and compassion has helped so many over the years.

"You shouldn't underestimate that," he said. "Sometimes we do good for people and don't even know we do it. Go ask a young kid who used to hang out at the Y. Now they're a lawyer or a doctor. They remember someone treated them good at the Y. Someone got them into a program, someone gave them a hobby."